58 HISTORY OF ESSEX BOTANY. 



Morisoii, and Dale ; secondly, those of the eighteenth century 

 Blackstone, Thomas Martyn, Warner, Curtis and Robson, down 

 to the year 1789, in which Gough's edition of Camden's Britannia 

 was published, containing a list of Essex plants drawn up by the 

 brothers Forster ; and thirdly, the writers from that time, chiefly 

 Edward Forster, George Stacey Gibson, and botanists recently 

 deceased, or still living. 



It is unnecessary for me to give a detailed biography of 

 William Turner, for two such have already appeared of late 

 years— one in Messrs. Trimen & Dyer's Flora of Middlesex,^ 

 pp. 364-8, the other yet more complete in Mr. B. D. Jackson's 

 fac-simih- reprint of the LihcUusde re herbaria novus.^ Turner was 

 born at Morpeth, in Northumberland, probably between 1510 

 and 1515, and was educated at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge; was 

 B.A. in 1529-30, Fellow of his college in 1531, M.A. in 1533. In 

 1538 he published his Lihdlus de re herbaria novas,"* the earliest 

 work meriting the title of botanical issued in England. It does 

 not refer more than ten plants to county habitats, and these, with 

 the exception of one Norfolk record, are all in Northumberland 

 or Cambridgeshire. Having adopted the principles of the 

 Reformation, he travelled through a good part of England 

 preaching, was imprisoned, apparently for doing so " without a 

 call," and subsequently banished. He passed a considerable 

 time in Italy, studying Botany at Bologna, under Luca Ghini; 

 took the degree of M.D., probably at Ferrara ; visited the great 

 Gesner at Zurich, and resided at Basel and Cologne. He issued 

 various controversial religious pamphlets, and received money 

 in common with other exiles, from his Cambridge friend and 

 master in Greek, Nicholas Ridley. He returned to England in 

 1547, after travelling in Holland, and in 1548 published his second 

 botanical work, The names of Jierhes in Greke, Lctin, English, Duch 

 and Frenelie, icylh the coniuiiine names that Herhaiies and Apotecaries 

 vse, which rare and valuable little work has been admirably 

 reprinted for the Enghsh Dialect Society, under the editorship 

 of Mr. James liritten.s It is dated from Syon, where he acted as 

 physician to the Protector Somerset, and contains about sixty 

 county recoids, nearly half of which are in Middlesex, chiefly 



2 London (Hardwicke), 1S69, Svo., price los. 6d. 



3 Londor, privately printed, 1877, 4to. 



4 British Museum prcss-niarls -"/'- f. 7. 410. Mr. Jacl<son's rejirint, London, 187 

 privately printed. 



5 London (Triibner), 1S81, 8vo., price 6s. 6d. 



